Chapter Thirty-Six

"Blast my eyes!" Ramsay swears in wonderment as Priest soars overhead.

My Priest, who is now the monster once more.

My Priest, who has spread his wings again, a terrible creature that has taken to the skies.

For a moment there, I thought I might die.

I had forgotten I was immortal. I've only been immortal for so long, it's natural to think death is coming for you when it's staring you in the face.

And his monster had been staring at me in the face.

But unlike the time in the church, I saw Priest in that creature's eyes.

I saw a man still in control, a man with a soul.

A Vampyre with wings.

He flew off toward the Dutch vessel, leaving the Nightwind and its crew in awe.

And I already know what Priest is going to do.

He's going to hunt down every man on that ship.

He's going to make them bleed.

As scared as I am of that creature, I don't want to miss the massacre either.

"So, that's the monster," Maren remarks as she stands next to me.

I nod. "Yes. That's the one."

She lets out a dry laugh. "He's a lot more terrifying than I imagined." Then, she reaches out and puts her hand on my shoulder, as if remembering what happened to me. "Are you alright?"

I give her a reassuring smile. "I think so. I certainly didn't expect to see the beast again or so soon. But I feel better about it than I thought I would. Perhaps because he didn't come straight for me, trying to kill me."

"Or perhaps because you know deep inside, you are nearly impossible to kill," she points out softly. "I don't know about you, but being immortal really does have you looking at life differently."

She's right about that. Ever since Priest cut my throat and let me bleed out before bringing me back to life as a Vampyre, life has looked different. It's not just that I see more; colors are more vibrant, I can see things in more detail, I can see things that are very far away. It's not just that my sense of smell, hearing, taste, and even touch have been heightened—having sex with Priest is almost too intense at times with all these new sensations.

No, it's something deeper than that, more than just my newfound strength and powers. It's knowing that you have eternity on your side. It changes you, makes you braver, less afraid of whatever life may throw at you.

Although, I must admit, I'm not fearless when it comes to matters of the heart. Being an immortal doesn't shield you from all the usual human worries. Vampyre hearts still break as easily as any other.

And while I may carry the fear of heartbreak with me, that doesn't stop me. I'm going to love Priest with all that I have, until the end of time.

And that means learning to love the monster too.

"Maren, luv," Ramsay says, coming over to her. "In the event that this battle gets out of hand, would you be able to call the Kraken to take down their ship? Might be good also to leave no evidence of what we're about to do."

She nods. "I will, but let me get my fill first. I can't let you boys always have all the fun."

He grins at her and then runs off, grabbing a rope from the mast and climbing up it.

"Lads!" Thane yells, his broadsword in the air. He glances at me and Maren and gives us a curt nod. "And ladies. Here we be! This is it! Are we ready to board and show these bastards no quarter?"

"Aye!" the crew yells, grabbing their weapons and getting into their battle positions. A few of them are down below on the gun deck, arming the cannons.

Maren and I look over the bow as the other ship gets closer and closer, the Nightwind coming in at full speed.

"You might want to stay out of the way for now," Cruz says to us, brandishing a sword before climbing up on the railing of the bow, holding on to a rope for balance. "Cannon fire can decapitate you."

"This isn't my first battle, Cruz," Maren says frostily. "And besides, they'd already have fired on us if they could. I dare say Aragon has already taken care of them."

We all look back to the vessel as we start closing in on it, see the blood splatters on the wood that Priest left behind. The occasional man runs down the deck and then seems to hide. One looks at our ship, screams, and then jumps overboard.

White-hot, simmering rage starts to build inside me.

"Cowards," I growl. Then I yell at the rest of the crew. "You find one alive, you save him for me!"

"Aye!" they yell back, just as eager for me to have my revenge.

"Steady, steady as she goes!" Thane yells back to the bosun at the helm.

Some of the sails are taken in quickly, and the ship starts to turn at an angle so that we're coming in on the side.

Cruz runs down the rail and jumps over the closing gap between the ships, while Ramsay yells, "Come on boys, let's feast!" and swings over on a rope. The rest of the crew on deck waits until the sides of the ships are flush against each other before throwing over grappling hooks to secure them, our cannons shoved into their ports. Seems they didn't even have the time to arm their own.

Priest, I can't help but think. Please save one for me.

"It's time," Maren says, grabbing my hand as the Brethren climb over on the Dutch ship. "Let's find the men who captured you."

We jump across the water and onto the other vessel, our movements effortless now that we're Vampyres, and start running amok along with everyone else. The crew of the Brethren always struck me as being so civilized compared to what I'd heard about pirates—especially when it comes to personal cleanliness—but now I see their savage side. They're running everywhere with their weapons drawn, pulling out the cowardly humans from their hiding places, stabbing them thoroughly before biting them and drinking their blood.

"I thought they were supposed to keep some alive?" I say to Maren as we make our way down the stairs to where the majority of screams seem to be coming from.

She makes a tsking sound of disappointment. "They're supposed to, but sometimes the bloodlust gets the best of them. Now that I'm a Vampyre, well, I can't say I blame them."

Then she spots a man cowering in the corner behind a barrel and lunges for him. My sister grabs him by the throat, her Syren claws coming out and slicing through his skin. Then, with red eyes and a monstrous roar, she bites the man's neck and begins feeding.

"Don't forget to eat the heart," I tell her as I keep going.

I've only fed from Priest, and that was right after he brought me back to life with an insatiable appetite for blood—one that has since waned, perhaps because I knew our supplies were low—and while I do feel the hungry urge to drink blood, my vengeance is on the forefront of my mind, clouding all other thoughts.

I hear another scream and a deep, menacing growl, and I know where I can find the beast.

I run right to a room at the end, where the door is half-open, claw marks having shredded through the wood.

I take in a deep breath, steadying my nerves because I know it won't just be Priest on the other side but the monster too, and then I step inside.

The delightful smell of blood fills my nose, and I'm back in the room I was first captured in.

The beast stands in the corner, so tall that he has to stoop over, his wings unfurled and taking up the whole breadth of the room.

In his hands is Ullan.

Ullan.

The beast holds the Syren by his shoulders, giant dark claws digging straight into his skin. There's a glass box filled with water on the floor that Ullan has been dragged out of, only his tail still submerged. There's a chain around Ullan's mouth to prevent him from biting and screaming.

Seems the Dutch crew went back for more Syrens after they lost Vialana. I have to wonder when they discovered me missing from the bottom of the ship.

Larimar?Ullan says in shock, staring at my dress, wondering how I can possibly be walking.

I glance up at the beast. He really should be hideous, those fathomless eyes, the snarling teeth, the dark leathery skin. And yet I still see Priest somehow. I see the man I love in there.

The beast stares back at me and nods, letting out a low growl.

He's been waiting for me to finish the job.

I feel a flutter of warmth in my heart, as if Priest had just performed the most romantic gesture. I suppose it wasn't easy keeping Ullan alive when all he wanted to do was—what was the saying? Rip off his head and piss down it?

I bring my attention back to the traitorous Syren.

Did the Dutch turn on you?I ask Ullan. Did you make a little bargain with them to take me? Take Vialana and the rest? Did they betray you in the end when they went back to get more? Or did you set us up, hoping we would be captured?

Ullan blinks at me, his gills opening and closing, trying to figure out how to breathe properly.

Tell me the truth, Ullan, I say, slowly walking toward him. Tell me the truth so that I may put my curiosity to rest, and perhaps I'll let you live.

The beast lets out a low, rattling sound, his claws digging in, drawing more blood. The sight of Ullan's blood makes my own veins thrum. I want my revenge, but maybe Syren blood will go a long way for the rest of the crew.

Tell me the truth and I'll make sure you're taken alive, I add, trying not to smile.

There was no bargain, Ullan finally says, his voice high and panicked. And weak. I saw the ship, knew what they were there for, and I signaled to them to come into the bay. They thought they were hunting me; they didn't know you were down there.

I nod. Strangely enough, now that I hear what happened, the truth makes no difference to me. I see.

You can't trust humans, Ullan says, wild-eyed.

Now, I grin. "No, you can't," I say aloud, even though I know he doesn't understand me. "But we're not human anyway."

I look to the beast again, finally feeling relaxed enough in his monstrous presence. "What should we do, Priest?" I ask, hoping I'm reaching him. "Keep the Syren alive so we can all feed off him for years to come? Or let me take out his heart and have him watch me eat it?"

I don't expect the beast to talk back, but it does.

"I am of two minds," the monster says, his voice terribly low and chilling and utterly inhuman. "Priest would want you to keep Ullan and torture him for eternity. I would rather eat the Syren's head. I suppose you could have the heart."

"Generous offer," I say. "I thought you were saving him for me."

"Priest is saving the Syren for you so that you may have your revenge. What I want is to eat its brains."

I try not to curl my lip at that. Ullan is looking between the two of us, trying to figure out what we're discussing. Probably a good thing he has no idea.

"Alright," I say. "For the sake of the Brethren, we will take Ullan on board. I suppose keeping him half-alive in the hold for a couple of hundred years while we slowly take his blood might be the best revenge I can get."

The beast nods. "I also have some humans I've saved for you," he rasps. "One happens to be the captain. They're in his quarters. Don't worry, I removed their legs so they can't escape."

"That was very thoughtful of you," I tell the beast.

I swear I see the monster grin.

I pick up the ends of my gown, like a lady, and leave the room while the beast drags Ullan along, the tail thrashing around like a dying fish. Outside, there is still chaos in the ship, filled with the occasional scream, the air smelling of blood.

I run into Ramsay and Thane, who show me the way to the captain's quarters.

The beast wasn't lying when he said he removed the men's legs. There are three humans lumped together in the middle of the cabin, all of them bleeding out. Their legs are nowhere to be found, which must mean the beast ate them. I have to wonder what that means for Priest when he comes back to his Vampyre form again, but I suppose we'll figure that out when it happens.

There are also bite marks in all of them, to which Ramsay and Thane look a little sheepish, although there is one human who is untouched.

The captain with his bushy blond mustache stares up at me with dazed eyes as Ramsay goes over and hoists him up to the sitting position.

I smile at him. "So, we meet again, Captain," I say to the man as I saunter over to him. "I bet you didn't think you'd see me alive. I bet you didn't think I'd have legs either. And I bet you didn't think I'd be the last thing you'd ever see." I frown at him mockingly. "That's an awful lot of thinking that you didn't do."

I stop in front of him and crouch down to his level, reach out with my Syren claws, and let one trail down the side of his powdered face, drawing a thin line of blood.

"So, allow me to let you stop thinking about what's going to happen next," I go on. "I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. I'm going to bite you and drain you of whatever blood you have left. Then, just before you die, I'm going to reach into your chest, pull out your heart, and eat it in front of you. Then, I'll do the same to whatever crew members are left."

I pause, taking my finger away from his face and licking the blood off the tip of my claw. It dances on my tongue like fire, the hunger striking me deep. "Finally, at the end of all that, the Kraken will come and take down your ship so that no one will ever know the truth of what happened to you, no evidence that you ever even saw Syrens. It will be like you never existed."

I glance up at Ramsay, who is still holding the captain up.

"Any last words?" Ramsay says to the captain.

But I don't even give the captain a chance to reply.

I lean in and sink my teeth into his neck, giving him a savage bite, the first pure human I've ever had a chance to feed on.

The blood flows into my mouth, and I feel everything inside me come alive, like being reborn all over again. Priest's blood was lovely, but I was in such a strange, ravenous state after I turned that I wasn't able to take my time and appreciate it.

There was also a part of me that didn't want to hurt Priest or take too much blood from him.

But now, I have permission to be my fully wild, feral, violent self.

So I feast and I feast on the captain's blood.

Then, as he starts to die, I make Ramsay hold his eyes open so he can see me tear out his heart and eat it in front of him.

And then I leave the captain as a dried husk, and the rest of us go through the remainder of the ship, searching for any survivors that the beast may have left behind.

By the time we're done and back on the Nightwind, twilight has fallen, and every crew member has blood and a look of satisfaction on their face. We have six humans still alive to put into the hold, and Ullan has been transferred to the jail cell, along with the glass box, to be kept for as long as he'll stay alive.

I'm standing at the railing as the Nightwind has started pulling away from the other ship, while Maren is swimming in the moonlit waters below, waiting for the Kraken. And I've been waiting for my own beast to make an appearance. After he flew with Ullan onto our ship, he disappeared somewhere. Abe assured me that he probably wanted to be alone to transform back into Priest.

But I'm starting to fear he won't transform back into human form at all.

What if he decides to stay the monster forever?

"Little fish."

I smile to myself in relief and then turn around to see Priest walking down the ship toward me. He looks as beautiful as ever and every bit the pirate priest, with his white open shirt showcasing the rosary around his neck.

"I was afraid I wouldn't see you like this again," I say to him.

He grins at me and takes my hands in his. "Would you still love me if I stayed as the beast?"

Even though he says this lightly, I don't take it so.

I squeeze his hands, staring deep into his familiar blue eyes.

"I would still love you in any shape or form."

The gravity of my words hangs in the air between us. His face softens for a moment and then, "But would you love me if I stayed the beast?"

I bite back a smile. "Are you saying would I fuck you in beast form?"

I don't need to point out that I already did once, though that wasn't really on the best terms and doesn't really count.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," he says.

I shrug, acting coy. "Perhaps. We have eternity, after all. Plenty of time to try something new."

He laughs at that, a rare but joyous sound that makes my heart skip several beats, and then he grabs my face in his hand, puts his arm around my waist, and pulls me to him, kissing me hard.

Kissing me like I'm his.

And I kiss him back like he's mine.

Because he is.

Forever now.

"There it is!" I hear Abe shout from the crow's nest.

Priest and I break apart and look over to see Maren swimming back to the Nightwind, Nill by her side, and the great tentacles of the Kraken reaching up out of the water. They wrap around the sides of the Dutch vessel and start to pull the ship right in two.

I lean my head against Priest's shoulder, my hunger sated, my heart happy, and we watch as the ship disappears beneath the waves, leaving only sparkling starlight behind.

THE END